My new Varta F21 AGM battery arrived today. I looked to remove the vent plugs used for transit purposes, but only found this



The other side is identical.

Attached to the positive terminal cover was a plug that fits in the hole perfectly




The pictorial instructions are worthless




So after an hour of trawling the good old tinterweb, I convinced myself that the battery did not require venting, and had an inbuilt safety vent system. I found reference to sealed vent holes in the Varta site, but unfortunately fig. 1 ( the image ) was missing !

So I put it on charge with my Ctek charger set to AGM mode. However, after checking the battery after an hour, the charger was at stage 4, I noticed that the side walls were " rounded"




So I took it off charge. I did not notice if the sidewalls were flat when it came out of the box

Can anyone who has fitted one of these batteries confirm if one of the flush fitting plugs / holes should be removed, or is this battery sealed and doesn't require venting?

I have looked at the original land Rover battery on the car ( also Varta AGM ), which has a vent pipe fitted, but upon close inspection, the hole in to which it is plugged, appears to be a blind hole.

How hard can it be to replace a car battery? I did the glow plugs and swirl flap removal yesterday which was easier than this!

As always, any help and advice will be greatly appreciated......

If it's got removable plugs, then they need removing before the battery is charged or discharged, or the battery casing can burst due to pressure build up. Hyundai Ioniq 5 Ultimate. The family car.
2009 Rimini Red SE TD4. Gone.
2006 Tonga Green i6 HSE. Gone.
Audi A5 convertible, my daily driver.
1972 Hillman Avenger GT, the project.

I understand that Nodge, but the question is are the plugs in my new battery removable? They don't appear to be, and AGM batteries are supposed to be sealed from everything I have read, so why the " rounding " of the end panels, or are they supposed to be like that? The ctek was putting out 14.4 volts when I disconnected it, so within range and it was set in AGM mode. The battery was cool to the touch.

Why not write to Varta and ask them?

Grimdog wrote:

I understand that Nodge, but the question is are the plugs in my new battery removable? They don't appear to be, and AGM batteries are supposed to be sealed from everything I have read, so why the " rounding " of the end panels, or are they supposed to be like that? The ctek was putting out 14.4 volts when I disconnected it, so within range and it was set in AGM mode. The battery was cool to the touch.

I have contacted Varta UK ( Clarios UK Ltd ), no response as yet.
I was hoping for a more speedy response from members here who have fitted this battery.

MotionInc wrote:

Grimdog wrote:

I understand that Nodge, but the question is are the plugs in my new battery removable? They don't appear to be, and AGM batteries are supposed to be sealed from everything I have read, so why the " rounding " of the end panels, or are they supposed to be like that? The ctek was putting out 14.4 volts when I disconnected it, so within range and it was set in AGM mode. The battery was cool to the touch.

Nope, AGMs are vented. I have used Optimas and current using the Costco Energizer in my LR2 and they all have vents, spiral cells, flooded, gel, etc.

Lithiums I don't believe are.

The pictorial instructions seem quite clear, after transport the plug by the negative terminal should be removed otherwise a woman with a large moustache will condemn your pyramid. 
Hung like Einstein, smart as a horse.

These are the transport plugs I removed from my Varta F19 I got last week

Did your battery have stickers over the terminal covers like this ?


find duplicates in csv online

shiggsy wrote:

The pictorial instructions seem quite clear, after transport the plug by the negative terminal should be removed otherwise a woman with a large moustache will condemn your pyramid.

SYFL2 wrote:

These are the transport plugs I removed from my Varta F19 I got last week

Thanks for the pics, definitely no red plugs and no warning stickers over the terminal covers, so I think that confirms my suspicion that there are no traditional vents.

Still waiting for a response from Varta, but not holding my breath.

I will update this thread if I get a response. If not, I will fit the battery as is, and monitor the case for deformation.

Thanks to all who have replied

Grimdog wrote:

MotionInc wrote:

Grimdog wrote:

I understand that Nodge, but the question is are the plugs in my new battery removable? They don't appear to be, and AGM batteries are supposed to be sealed from everything I have read, so why the " rounding " of the end panels, or are they supposed to be like that? The ctek was putting out 14.4 volts when I disconnected it, so within range and it was set in AGM mode. The battery was cool to the touch.

Nope, AGMs are vented. I have used Optimas and current using the Costco Energizer in my LR2 and they all have vents, spiral cells, flooded, gel, etc.

Lithiums I don't believe are.

So looking at the images I have posted, so you think that the "plug" fitted in the first image is removable? There were no transport plugs fitted. This is how the battery arrived. Surely the transport plugs would be obvious, red white or black in my previous experience of normal lead acid batteries.

Sorry Motonic, I am not convinced 😮. If you look at my battery in the images supplied, unless you start to remove the " plugs" with a sharp bladed screwdriver, they are not easily removable.
Surely other members who have fitted this battery ( plenty of threads ) must have come across this If he ?